Sunday, 29 June 2008

Week in Music: Industrial Week

The choice in genre this week was inspired by my comment last week about how my later choices in music made bands like Uriah Heep and deep Purple seem tame by comparison. My aim was to listen to some of the newer albums from Industrial bands that I have accumulated but never listened to. The most pleasant surprises of the week were With Teeth by Nail Inch Nails and Amaroid by Diorama. I've always sort of been a Nine Inch Nails fan but have generally ended up favouring one or two songs on an album as opposed to liking the offering as a whole. That is reflected in the fact that it took me so long to finally settle down and give this album a decent listen. Well, I think "With Teeth" finally presents a masterpiece of an album and I can definitely see it becoming a firm favourite of mine in the future.

On to the top ten tracks of the week then:

[audio:assimilate.mp3,belongs.mp3,cannibal.mp3,champagne.mp3,crushed.mp3,dada.mp3,feurio.mp3,motorbike.mp3,tragedy.mp3,wing.mp3|titles=Assimilate,Right Where It Belongs,Cannibal Song,Champagne For All,Crushed,Dada 331,Feurio,Motorbike,Tragedy For You,Wings of Steel|artists=Skinny Puppy,Nine Inch Nails,Ministry,Diorama,Collide,Cranes,Einstürzende Neubauten,Sheep On Drugs,Front 242,Collide]

Assimilate - Skinny Puppy: Quite easily the oldest of my Industrial favourites, this track takes me back to Club Alcatraz in 1992. This song was brilliant and years ahead of its time.

Right Where It Belongs - Nine Inch Nails: This song is pretty subdued considering some of the other songs this week but it is definitely the type of song that gets under your skin and I couldn't get enough of it at all.

Cannibal Song - Ministry: I honestly don't believe I have listened to this Ministry album in about 15 years. I've missed it really. This is one of Ministry's more funky, laid back songs.

Champagne For All - Diorama: What's with all of the down-tempo songs this week? I promise to rectify that next week, but not until after introducing this brilliant song to this list.

Dada 331 - Cranes: This is one of my favourite Cranes song from their more Industrial-type stuff. The other fave is Focus Breathe. It is incredibly hard to pigeon-hole this band at times as their stuff ranges from Industrial to Gothic to Dream Pop to Psychedelic (to downright crap with their Population 4 album). Great song.

Feurio! - Einstürzende Neubauten: What an awesome album and this song is easily the best song off the album.

Motorbike - Sheep On Drugs: I have always loved Sheep On Drugs, a lot. They still remain in the top ten list of bands I've seen in concert but a summer of concerts and festivals will probably change that now. Have I mentioned how awesome it is to move to UK and now have access to decent concerts? I love all Sheep On Drugs songs equally - this one is just sometimes loved more than others.

Tragedy (For You) - Front 242: This was my favourite song for years at Alcatraz. It's brilliant and another timeless classic.

Wings of Steel - Collide: I accidentally slipped another Collide song in here because they really are brilliant and they really are not known nearly as well as they deserve to be. This song makes me want to dance about like mad.